State uses photo of competitor’s jet engine in presentation to GE

Updated 12:33 am, Saturday, September 5, 2015

The front page of a presentation prepared by the state Department of Economic and Community Development for General Electric Corp. is shown in this contributed photo from state Rep. John Frey, R-Ridgefield, that was obtained by Hearst Connecticut Media on Sept. 3, 2015. The jet engine in the center is not manufactured by GE, but in-state rival Pratt & Whitney, Frey said. less

The front page of a presentation prepared by the state Department of Economic and Community Development for General Electric Corp. is shown in this contributed photo from state Rep. John Frey, R-Ridgefield, ... more

When Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and his economic development team met with General Electric officials last month to try to convince the company to keep its headquarters in Fairfield, they prepared a PowerPoint presentation for the occasion.

Its title: “GE Belongs in Connecticut.”

There was a glaring oversight, however.

An image on the front page of the report was of a jet engine manufactured not by GE, but by in-state rival Pratt & Whitney.

Rep. John Frey, R-Ridgefield, who provided Hearst Connecticut Media with a copy of the report’s cover page, said the governor’s office should have known the engine pictured was a Pratt & Whitney geared turbofan.

“It’s rank amateur,” Frey said “This is probably the most important presentation of Gov. Malloy’s tenure, and it’s sloppy. Did Malloy wear a Maytag repairman uniform when he went to GE?”

Malloy’s office said the photo was simply chosen to highlight that jet engines are built in Connecticut.

“Connecticut has the world’s leading precision manufacturing sector — and we are very proud of that,” said Devon Puglia, a spokesman for Malloy.

Pratt & Whitney has plants in East Hartford and Middletown, whereas GE’s jet engines are built in other states.

Frey has been highly critical of the state’s treatment of companies such as GE, which announced earlier this summer that it is scouting out locations for its headquarters in other states because of rising corporate taxes.

He said 11 governors and Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel have visited the company’s Fairfield campus since GE announced it might consider moving.

Connecticut’s presentation did not impress, he said.

“Do they think that they’re not serious about relocation?” Frey said.

Officials from the state and GE who were in the room for the Aug. 18 presentation were required to sign non-disclosure agreements.

"Sources who were not in the room, without a first-hand or probably even a second-hand account, peddling false rumors and innuendo are just that — sources peddling false rumors and innuendo," said Puglia, the governor’s spokesman.